US Expects DPRK to Uphold Promise to Give Up Nuclear Arms

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WASHINGTON, July 31 (CGTN) -- The US State Department said on Tuesday it expects Pyongyang to keep its commitment made at a June leaders’ summit to give up its nuclear arms and would press Southeast Asian nations during meetings this week to maintain sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The department left open the possibility that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could meet DPRK officials during meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in Singapore this weekend.

“We will be in some of the same meetings as North Korean (DPRK's) officials. I certainly can’t preclude any interaction taking place, but we have no meetings on the schedule,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.

Another State Department official, who earlier briefed reporters on Pompeo’s trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia this week, said the secretary would remind ASEAN to adhere to sanctions against Pyongyang. There are concerns that fuel is being sold illegally to the DPRK despite UN sanctions, the official said.

The official said that the DPRK will participate in a 27-nation regional ASEAN forum on Saturday that Pompeo will also attend.

"We remain concerned about the scale of North Korea’s (DPRK's) illicit procurement, in particular of refined petroleum products via UN-prohibited ship-to-ship transfers,” the official said.

Under the restrictions, Pyongyang is limited to importing 4 million barrels of crude and 500,000 barrels of products a year.

Pompeo has led talks with Pyongyang to denuclearize following a June summit between the DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Nauert said the United States was holding Kim to the commitment he made during the summit to denuclearize.

She declined to comment on the spy satellite images.

"What we are going on is the commitment that Chairman Kim made to our president, and that is the commitment to denuclearize. That is something that we certainly anticipate that he will hold up his end of the bargain," Nauert said.